The Pancypriot Bar Association (PDA) decided to take measures protesting the (Special) Procedural Regulations of 2022 on the Adjudication of Delayed Cases, which have been published last Friday, November 25 by the Supreme Court.
In an announcement it is stated that yesterday the Board of Directors held an extraordinary meeting and decided to call its members on warning abstinence from their duties next Thursday 1/12/2022 from 9:30 am. – 11:30am
It also decided to hold a protest rally in Nicosia outside the Supreme Court and in the other provinces outside the main entrance of the District Courts during the above hours as well as the establishment of a special group of experts for the immediate preparation of a note with amendments to the Regulation.
Also decided on the preparation of a report by the presidents of the local bar associations on the management of the backlog.
The announcement emphasizes that the PDS has always supported and supports the adoption of a package of measures to deal with the backlog of cases and the slowness in the administration of justice and has taken the lead in the reform of justice with specific recommendations to deal with the problems in the lower courts.
“It should be understood that the problem of backlogs cannot be tackled piecemeal on the basis of a philosophy that promotes express solutions, which are contrary to basic principles of law, the Constitution, EU law, the European Convention on Human Rights and principles of Natural Justice, blatantly ignoring the role of lawyers, as co-operators of justice, in the judicial process”, states PDS.
He also notes that the only thing that is achieved by promoting unilateral solutions “is to put unbearable pressure on lawyers, litigants and even judges to move the proceedings seemingly at a fast pace, with the result that the problems in the justice sector are exacerbating even more and the rule of law and the Cypriot citizen are irreparably harmed”.
The PDS considers that the issue of delayed cases can be resolved by the implementation of comprehensive measures, structured adjudication practices with the simultaneous adoption of parallel measures such as the increase of judges, the appointment of retirees, recorders from the ranks of lawyers, the amendment of the Law on Courts for referrals to mediation and arbitration, the introduction of ODR, recording of proceedings and expertise with appropriate distribution of cases. These, furiously, are also the recommendations of European bodies that never adopted the piecemeal approach to the problem but instead suggested that the problem of delays should be dealt with by taking a package of measures.
The PDS notes that the measures were decided to be taken with the aim of immediately suspending the Regulation in question and that in case there is no response, “it is reserved for escalating the measures with stronger mobilizations”.
